Expanding your remote workforce may have a major impact on network infrastructure, security/compliance, and company culture. Progent has 20 years of background assisting small and mid-size businesses to plan, configure, manage, optimize, and debug IT environments that support work-from-home employees. Progent can help your Chandler organization to select the right tools and adhere to best practices in building and maintaining a safe virtual office ecosystem for teleworkers that facilitates collaboration and delivers top business value. Progent can provide services ranging from as-needed guidance for helping you past challenging technical roadblocks to comprehensive project management to help you carry out business-critical initiatives.

Progent's consultants can help Chandler, Arizona organizations to succeed with any facet of building a high-performing remote work environment by providing network infrastructure configuration services, IP voice troubleshooting, video conferencing support, collaboration platform customization and training, public cloud connectivity, helpdesk augmentation, security monitoring, backup/restore solutions, and unified management.

Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Configuring the network infrastructure needed for an at-home work environment can be especially complex if you have to accommodate a combination of personal hardware such as PCs and notebooks, routers, and wireless appliances from an assortment of vendors and with a mix of operating systems and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing online help for both legacy as well as current technologies in remote office venues enables you to make cost-effective use of your available network infrastructure and provides you with fast access to top-tire consultants for making necessary upgrades. Services offered by Progent to help you to implement a productive work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • VPN connectivity makes it possible to create a safe tunnel for authorized at-home workers to use IT assets situated at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can help your company to configure and maintain VPN connections between your at-home workforce and your key IT resources by providing online VPN integration support. For businesses with Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA consultants can assist your at-home workers to set up Cisco's popular AnyConnect client software for secure VPN connections for a wide selection of endpoint devices including Microsoft Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms enable a telecommuter to see and use a data center computer's desktop. This technology provides IT managers more control over the digital ecosystem of at-home employees and ensures them a consistent and more productive work experience. Progent's virtual desktop consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop support and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers attach at-home computer networks to the Internet and support VPN connections, home wireless networks, and firewalls. Progent can provide expert online consulting for deploying home routers from all major vendors. See router configuration services from Cisco-certified experts.
  • Home Wi-Fi networks, often supporting the whole family and visitors, are frequently utilized by telecommuters to connect to their router for work. This can create throughput as well as cybersecurity issues. Progent can help businesses to resolve these problems by delivering expertise that include Cisco Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi access point setup help.
  • Internet connectivity solutions impact the speed and availability of connections between at-home workers and the corporate data center. Business-critical processes may demand backup Internet connections in the event the normal connection fails. Progent offers expertise for identifying ISPs, picking appropriate bandwidth and data volume bundles, and configuring high-availability Internet access. Refer to Internet connectivity solutions.

VoIP Solutions for Teleworkers
Expanding the company PBX environment to include remote users is vital to supporting a productive work-at-home solution. A variety of cloud-based VoIP products are used by small and mid-size businesses to server telecommuters. Many enterprises depend on Cisco's modern or older platforms for IP voice solutions. Progent can help businesses of any size to design or tune a telecommuter VoIP environment that provides the flexibility, convenience and security required for remote users. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice experts offer high-level support to assist organizations tune their current Cisco VoIP environments to handle an expanding at-home workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) delivers enterprise IP telephony features to devices such as VoIP phones, media processing platforms, Voice over IP gateways, and multimedia applications used throughout the network. CUCM manages other mixed media services like messaging, video conferencing, and team interaction networks. For details about Progent's Unified Communications Manager support, visit Cisco Unified Communications Manager consulting services.
  • CallManager is Cisco's earlier call-processing software and has been superseded by CUCM. Progent's consultants can assist you to support your existing CallManager deployment or upgrade efficiently to Cisco's current IP telephony products. For details about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other legacy VoIP platforms, visit Cisco CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways enable connectivity with PSTN networks and with users operating outside the corporate perimeter like at-home workers. Progent can provide consulting expertise for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways like the UC520, UC540 and UC560 products and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway integration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Platforms supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, RingCentral and 8x8. Progent can help you to expand your wide area network infrastructure to support these VoIP solutions and provide as-needed deployment and troubleshooting services.

Voice/Video Conferencing for Telecommuters
A wide selection of video conferencing platforms from major vendors support online meetings, video and voice conferencing, chat sessions, and screen/content sharing for both local workers and telecommuters. Many companies utilize multiple conferencing products to meet the needs of their different partners and clients. Progent can assist you to maintain your existing voice/video conferencing ecosystem and enhance the engagement of your remote workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's leading communications platform that enables real-time presence, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing plus the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent offers the skills of Microsoft-certified consultants who can help your company to configure and manage Skype for Business client software to support your remote workforce. To learn more about Progent's support services for Skype for Business, visit Skype for Business consulting services.
  • FaceTime is Apple's group video phone platform for iOS and Mac computers and smartphones. FaceTime works on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Current versions of FaceTime support up to 32 concurrent users for video sessions. To learn more about Progent's consulting services for FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides online conferencing for virtually all desktop or mobile devices. Offered via Cisco's Webex Cloud, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that embed rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint, network-based capture, plus editing and playback for future reference. To learn more about Progent's support services for Webex and for additional IP video solutions from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's follow-up for Skype for Business. Teams acts as a hub for conversations, contacts, and information with capabilities such as IP voice and video conferencing, persistent chat, plus data sharing. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams as well as for additional Microsoft 365 products, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Additional Conferencing Platforms supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can deliver configuration and troubleshooting services for these products and assist you to tune your WAN infrastructure to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Platforms for Remote Workers
Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office and Microsoft 365 families, providing a rich ecosystem of productivity apps that deliver a consistent user interface for exchanging information across multiple sites and on a broad range of endpoints. Progent has provided online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help businesses to configure these flagship collaboration products to optimize the productivity of your at-home workers.

Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suite, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help at-home workers set up and use these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize productivity.

Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium Solutions Experts for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Teams works on top of Microsoft 365 and integrates with third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a replacement for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium can support chat, video meetings that include screen sharing, calling, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and app sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for delivering its full range of features. For additional information about Progent's consulting services for Microsoft Teams, visit solution design and deployment consulting for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium.

SharePoint Server Integration Consultants for At-Home WorkersSharePoint uses web entities to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing by providing policy-based access to data, workflow, and utilities for looking through company-wide business data. SharePoint enables you to build secure web portals that allows at-home workers to see and update aggregated business intelligence by means of Wikis, Blogs, social networking web sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint support services, refer to SharePoint integration and application development consulting.

Exchange Configuration Consultants for At-Home WorkersExchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. To find out about Progent's Exchange consulting services, go to integration consulting for Exchange.

Microsoft Onedrive Configuration Experts for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud storage service, comparable to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can store files to OneDrive, and colleagues can access them safely via a web browser. Included with Office 365, OneDrive enables at-home workers to co-edit files. Revisions made offline are synced when you go back online. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft OneDrive, go to Microsoft Onedrive configuration experts.

Public Cloud Integration Services for At-Home Workers
Progent can provide fast and affordable remote support for enabling businesses to create, manage and optimize cohesive network architectures that combine physical data centers, at-home workers, branches, plus cloud resources. Progent offers expertise for all types of public cloud service delivery such as Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help remote workers resolve issues with cloud access, authentication, and security.

Microsoft Azure Integration for Remote WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a leading platform for public cloud services that allows you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key applications running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Azure includes over 100 services services such as hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, app development with Visual Studio, and backup/restore. Progent can assist your organization to deploy VMs on Azure Virtual Machines, integrate storage on Azure Storage services, streamline identity management with Azure AD, and design backup and restore systems with Azure Backup. Progent's cloud experts can also show you how to create protected connections to Azure services for telecommuters by setting up and troubleshooting firewalls and VPN IPsec tunnels. To find out about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Azure, refer to Azure consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TelecommutersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's growing family of client productivity applications and cloud-based services offered on a subscription basis. Office apps and services are provided in a selection of plans designed for customers ranging from students and small offices to large enterprises. Progent can provide fast and affordable online contact with experts familiar with Microsoft 365-compatible client devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android technology. Progent's experts can assist you to assess the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 applications for your telecommuters in a way that delivers top business value. To learn about Progent's expertise for Microsoft 365, refer to Microsoft 365 consulting services.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration for TelecommutersExchange Online is one of the most widely used cloud-based applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Microsoft 365 Exchange Online offers the benefits of reduced spending for data center infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high reliability, and other benefits inherent with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to run seamlessly with on-premises deployments of Exchange, allowing customers to create hybrid networks. Progent's certified Exchange experts can provide as-needed help to guide you past tough IT bottlenecks and can also provide end-to-end project management services to make sure your remote workers have convenient and secure access to your Microsoft 365 Exchange Online deployment. For details Progent's consulting services for Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, see Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration and troubleshooting consulting.

Amazon AWS Integration for Remote WorkersAmazon Web Services (AWS) is a pioneer in the public cloud market and is the world's top source of cloud services. Progent can provide rapid and affordable online access to cloud integration experts who can help your business to plan, deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot hybrid IT networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local data centers and with other popular cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking experts to help you to build a high-uptime network model so your users have a productive computing environment regardless of whether they are working from your main office, a remote branch, from home, or on the move. For information about Progent's consulting services for Amazon AWS, visit Amazon AWS integration support.

Google Cloud Platform Integration Services for Remote WorkersGoogle Cloud Platform is a leading collection of public cloud services that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco consulting experts can help you to scale your existing IT resources with the Google Cloud, and Progent's DBA experts can show you how to make your key apps cloud ready so your at-home workers can benefit fully from Google Cloud services. Progent can help you to set up VMs on GCP Compute Engine, plan a cost-effective storage solution with Google Cloud Storage, and simplify access control for teleworkers with GCP Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also help you to use GCP's unified management tools to administer and monitor your GCP environment. To find out, visit Google Cloud Platform consulting expertise.

Help Desk Services for Teleworkers
An emergency, enterprise-wide changeover to a teleworker business model, which could be activated by a pandemic or as a component of a disaster recovery plan, can overwhelm even the most efficient internal Support Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services allow businesses of any size to outsource or supplement their Support Desk by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

  • Progent's Standard Help Desk services utilize Progent's extensive team of remote technical support experts along with enterprise-class ticketing and follow-up technology to offer an affordable, state-of-the-art Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer an end-to-end solution that handles all aspects of remote Level 1 desktop support from help requests through ticket generation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal allows from-home workers to monitor or edit the status of their current tickets, enter details, and upload screenshots or attachments. Desktop support services are provided at a substantial discount off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support charges, and Progent offers the option of rapid escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support specialists to resolve complex issues. For details, go to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size companies.
  • Progent's Call Center Augmentation Service enables your business to expand your existing Help Desk staff by sharing responsibilities for Call Center support transparently between your in-house IT support organization and Progent's extensive team of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Support Desk service uses a co-sourcing support solution based on the leading PSA platform for handling service requests and trouble tickets, assigning ownership, tracking progress, and producing reports. To find out how Progent's Help Desk Call Center Augmentation Services can help your company to deliver best-in-class desktop support to your telecommuters, refer to Progent's Call Desk augmentation Services.

Security and Compliance for At-Home Workers
At-home employees commonly utilize their own computing devices and usually work in an unsecured physical space. This situation multiplies their vulnerability to malware threats and requires careful configuration of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote endpoint monitoring, thorough end-user education, and the creation of security policies built on leading practices. Progent's seasoned group of cybersecurity solutions experts can assist you to design, configure and maintain a compliant cybersecurity solution that guards vital IT resources in environments that include at-home workers.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls enable companies to build a network environment that can be securely accessed by local users and by telecommuters, mobile workers, vendors, customers, and the public. Next-generation firewall appliances permit you to configure and manage different access rights to various groups of users and to expand your IT network and modify your security as your company evolves and as network attacks grow more sophisticated. Progent works with both new and legacy security devices from all major vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. For more information about Progent's firewall support expertise, visit firewall support expertise.

Remote Security Monitoring Services for TelecommutersOnline Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate computers utilized by remote workers and either block or identify and mitigate the latest threats like ransomware. With Progent's ProSight Active Security Monitoring services, a lightweight software agent is installed on each protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and utilizing state-of-the-art machine learning from SentinelOne to detect new attacks on arrival. When an attack is discovered, ProSight ASM immediately disconnects the targeted endpoint from the network to contain the threat. Since the ProSight Active Security Monitoring software agent is self-contained, endpoints stay secure even if they are offline. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, dealer, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight ASM, go to remote endpoint monitoring for remote workers.

Two-factor Authentication Services for TeleworkersProgent's Duo MFA Managed Services utilize Cisco's Duo technology to defend against compromised passwords through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables single-tap identity confirmation with iOS, Google Android, and other out-of-band devices. Using 2FA, whenever you sign into a protected online account and enter your password you are requested to verify who you are via a device that only you have and that uses a separate network channel. A broad selection of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this added means of authentication including a smartphone or watch, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may designate several validation devices. To learn more about Duo two-factor identity authentication services, visit Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for an at-home workforce.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the exposure of your information system to all classes of external and local security threats for an environment that incorporates an at-home workforce. Progent can deploy remote, automated cybersecurity analysis software for rapidly and affordably detecting a wide variety of security weaknesses that can be found over the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be provided by data security professionals with top credentials including CISA, CISSP, and GIAC, can help your business to evaluate your operations and policies and review your network infrastructure to allow you to design top-level protection for your at-home workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero PEN Testing Platform is a breakthrough penetration test (pentest) product family that supports automated testing of your at-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can expose, prioritize, fix, and confirm security vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. Progent can assist you to use NodeZero to carry out thorough pentests of your network perimeter and your internal network in order to determine your current security profile. Progent can also help you to harden your existing network security and can help you to design and deploy a unified cybersecurity strategy that simplifies management and provides optimum cyber defense for on-premises, multi-cloud, at-home, and perimeter IT resources. To find out additional information about Progent's threat assessment services based on on NodeZero's penetration test products, see Consulting Services for NodeZero's Pentest Platform.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home Environment
To read or download a white paper describing key things to concentrate on for securing an IT environment that supports telecommuters, click:
Protecting a Work-From-Home (WFH) Network White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection involves saving and restoring vital information in order to avoid data loss and reduce recovery time in case of storage system failures due to equipment breakdowns, software hiccups, human error, cyber attack, or any other reason. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially difficult to design and maintain in hybrid environments that combine in-house data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery strategies for remote workers must address diverse kinds of user-owned endpoints. Progent can provide fast online access to consultants knowledgeable about a wide array of products for protection Microsoft Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX powered servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/recovery products supported by Progent's backup/recovery consultants include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed throughout a hybrid network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery subscription service that uses cloud-based storage and includes granular restore and unified management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) strategies commonly envision scenarios that call for a quick changeover to a work-at-home environment. Progent's senior disaster recovery planning experts and business continuity planning specialists can assist your company to develop, document and validate a DR/BC plan that addresses the process of switching to an at-home workforce.

Unified Management for At-Home Workers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management platforms under the name Microsoft Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of remote devices and Configuration Manager for managing local endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a unified environment for protecting corporate data by managing local, mobile, and at-home endpoints.

Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud-based service for managing and protecting mobile devices and applications. Remote endpoint computers can be personally owned or business owned. IT administrators managing the enrolled endpoint computers of teleworkers can use Intune to deploy and authenticate applications on managed devices, push patches and certificates, configure rules for permission to access information and resources, set passwords, establish VPN connections, determine how home-based workers share data, set up threat defense, ensure compliance, and delete sensitive data from lost, stolen or decommissioned devices. Microsoft Intune works with iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. For details about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can assist you to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to administer the devices of your teleworkers, see Intune remote endpoint management consultants.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich centralized MDM product that helps network administrators to keep offsite endpoints current and secure. Workspace ONE incorporates VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration along with VMware's Horizon virtual application delivery technology for identity control, app management, and setup management of endpoint computers. Workspace ONE operates with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is available by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product through a one-time purchase. Top features of VMware Workspace ONE include rapid over-the-air deployment of new laptops, quick onboarding of new users, policy set up and enforcement for all categories of devices, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, an email encryption gateway, and integration with Microsoft applications and cloud-based products. For details about Progent's support for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote endpoint management expertise.

Contact Progent for At-Home Worker Support Services
To get in touch with Progent about building and maintaining a productive work-from-home environment for your Chandler, Arizona business, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.